China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC). Photo: VCG

China remained the world's second-largest destination for foreign investment in 2019 thanks to the country's strengthened efforts to open its market, a senior official said on Tuesday.

In 2019, China's foreign direct investment (FDI) rose 5.8 percent year-on-year to 941.5 billion yuan ($137 billion) and the number of newly established foreign funded firms exceeded 40,000, Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming told a press conference in Beijing.

There were 834 foreign-funded projects in China worth more than $100 million in 2019, up 15.8 percent year-on-year. For instance, it took Tesla less than one year to establish its Shanghai factory and realize mass production, Qian said.

"We worried that many enterprises would transfer their business [out of the Chinese market], but the data show there was no large industrial transfer or profit loss," he said.

Meanwhile, China's foreign investment advanced in a stable and orderly manner in 2019. Outbound direct investment stood at 807.95 billion yuan, down 6 percent on a yearly basis, the ministry said. 

China's overseas investment structure became more balanced and domestic capital flowed into industries including leasing and commercial services, manufacturing and retail, said the official.

China's foreign investment into countries and regions along routes of the Belt and Road Initiative hit 105.96 billion yuan in 2019, accounting for 13.1 percent of the country's total investment, according to Qian.

Newspaper headline: China’s FDI rose 5.8% in 2019, maintaining country’s status as second-largest destination for foreign investment: officialChina’s FDI rose 5.8% in 2019, maintaining country’s status as second-largest destination for foreign investment: official